Friday, January 16, 2015

Most of the so-called sustainable or "green" buildings try to reduce their
impact on the environment, both in its construction and maintenance. In simple words, it is about a building being "less bad", assuming that its existence would inevitably imply a negative environmental balance. The concept of "Regenerative Design" takes a proactive approach and go beyond the traditional practice of sustainable design.
The regenerative buildings not only reduce their energy consumption to
zero but they collect, generate and distribute renewable resources
to their surroundings, improving the environmental balance of the environment.

A remarkable example of this approach is the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability or CIRS, erected at the University of British Columbia UBC in Vancouver, Canada, a
project by Perkins + Will.

The building statistics are impressive. For example, neither structural steel nor concrete were used during its construction, greatly reducing its environmental footprint. The total amount of water consumed by the building is collected from rainfall and all wastewater is recycled on site.

The main strategy to achieve a design with positive CO2 balance was the
widespread use of wood, in particular a type of pine that, after being
attacked by a beetle, suffers scars that make it unattractive to fine
finishes or construction.
Due to the climate change these beetles, which used to die in the cold
weather, have managed to adapt and have experienced a population explosion, causing the death of vast quantities of pines, which wood is usually rejected by the
industry.
This wood has been used both in the structure, finishes and
furnishings of the CIRS, and provides an atmosphere of warmth throughout the building.

Wood is the most sustainable construction material, because it is a quickly renewable resource. From
a structural point of view, the modern engineered materials such as glue-laminated timber have increased the hardness of wood so that they have a
much greater structural capacity.

Photo courtesy of CIRS

However, the abundant use of wood creates a fire hazard. In order to minimize it special insulators were created as well as a
sprinkler system, which is supplied from an underground cistern, which
in turn collects rainwater.

Photo courtesy of CIRS

The façade accomodates a set of panels that support seasonal vegetation called the "living wall", which provides shade in the summer and allows the passage of solar heat
in the winter.

The garden is drip-irrigated using storm water and ultimately it ends in a groundwater aquifer.

The building is crossed diagonally by a path which includes the way of a pre-existing old road.

This allows to separate the glass corner like a glass triangle, which gives lightness to the composition of the building and houses an
interesting solar water biofilter.
This consists of a series of tanks with plants which naturally absorb and
process the waterwaste generated in the bathrooms of the building. The processed water is used to irrigate both the living wall as well as the inner garden.

Another notable element on the facade are the photovoltaic panels on
the east and south facades which cover part of the building's energy
demand. The rest is collected from the excess energy of a nearby building and converted into energy in a small geothermal plant.

Inside, the building is organized around a large atrium, which provides generous natural lighting, while allowing natural ventilation
without the need for air conditioning systems, using the chimney effect
to help circulate the air by convection. In turn, it exploits the building orientation to optimize its exposure to light.

On the ground floor there is an auditorium with capacity for 423
people, naturally lit by a lateral skylight located next to the indoor garden
(in fact the garden is located over the roof of the auditorium).

The auditorium also used wood both in the structural beams and the finishes, as well as in some of the furniture.

If you look closely you can see the scars left by the beetles while they were burrowing the pine wood.

Due these features, the CIRS is recognized as one of the most innovative buildings in North America.
In addition to its quality as an experimental regenerative building, is a
facility that promotes the study and dissemination of new ideas for
sustainable design.

We
live among objects, we move through constructed spaces, the world is
manifested through them and we erect our reality by means of a sort of recomposition
of fragments of the perceived and interpreted information.The
architecture is thus not only a shelter for our body, it is often a filter through which the order that governs the universe is manifested.This order is perceived, subsequently related and finally transformed into individual and collective meanings.It was always like this and it was fine.

Accustomed
today to remain in virtual spaces, satisfied with simple
images, hurrying to distinguish our preferences with a "like it", we increasingly do not recognize the revelatory function of architecture, or at
least we select the most superficial and useful informationto the extent
that it will allow us to stay in comfortable spaces, promoting the genesis of an architecture for the media that hides behind its epidermal formal
fanfare, the monotony of standardized production and the lack of
attention to what the context demands.

Three
architects who share these concerns met in a cafe in Arequipa and
agreed to share a vivid architectural experience which transcended the ordinary and, in some way or another, influenced their way of perceiving the world or finding themselves.They
hope that through these experiences they will encourage more people to tell
their own ones and thus made a small contribution to put architecture in
the proper place.

Monumental.The scale of the Capitol in Chandigarh overwelmed me.The place conveyed a sense of grand, almost megalomaniac power.It was made ​​to impress, but it seemed to have forgotten to accommodate people.In that hot morning in the Indian spring it would have been very comfortable to sit under a tree, but this sort of banality would had interfered with the colossal perspective of the space, something that the Swiss architect who conceived it was not willing to compromise.

Still, I was grateful to be standing for the first time before a building by the great master Le Corbusier and to enjoy the landscape of the Himalayas mountains, emerging as a backdrop to the east.I had previously only seen reproductions in black and white of this complex, so it was a very special experience to be standing there, admiring the grandeur of the Capitol, the strength of their volumes, the roughness and plasticity of the concrete and to be able to breathe the passion for design that the Swiss master embedded in this work, from the urban design to the details of the murals and carpets.

I arrived there escorted bya friend's relative and after he showed me the complex from afar, he prepared to return to the city center.When I insisted to approach in order to have a better look of the buildings, he nervously told me that it was complicated, that I would need to ask for a special permission the next day.I could understand his nervousness because Chandigarh is located near the border with Pakistan , in a very tense area where security measures are taken seriously.But I was not going to give up just like that.I went to get that permission and the initial reluctance of the officers gradually became an effective collaboration.They were flattered by the presence of such an exotic visitor, and soon I left that office carrying the permission as well as many souvenirs and information about the city.

Early next day I was back at the Capitol, with its three symbolic buildings: the Secretariat, the Palace of the Assembly and the High Court.Of all the elements of the complex it was the Palais de l'Assemblée the building that moved me the most, due to its mathematical grid of brise-soleil, so necessary in that hot climate, and its photogenic south facade reflected in a water mirror.

The grid made that heavy rectangular concrete box look lighter, and its rational lines contrasted with the sculptural volume of a truncated hyperbolic shell, a monumental form whose inspiration came from industrial chimneys.

I made that tour escorted by a soldier armed with an automatic gun, because security was particularly strict.

We entered the building, adorned with murals designed by Le Corbusier himself, who had not neglected any details at the time of conceiving his masterpiece.

Inside, the indirect light passed through the brise-soleil and gave a depth effect to the hypostyle hall, reminiscent of the classical temples that the Swiss master had admired so much during his journey of discovery to Greece.

Photo courtesy of Fondation Le Corbusier

In the midst of that forest of columns the curved volume of the assembly emerged as an impetuous volcano.

Photo courtesy of Fondation Le Corbusier

Then, we approached to the main chamber, which luckily could be accessed at that moment due to the recess of the legislators.Neither the books on Le Corbusier or the treaties on modern architecture that I had previously read could have prepared me for that impression.The monumentalspace, molded in that 15 cm thick concrete shell, raised above the upholstered seats of the legislators.The truncated section of the hyperbole accentuated its directionality and its geometry favored the acoustics.The height of the space was also conceived due to climate concerns, allowing the circulation of airflow through conduction.

Photo courtesy of The Tribune

But that place did not seem to me a civic space, but a sacred one.The light filtering indirectly produced a spiritual effect, that I would encounter again few years later in the chapel made ​​by Le Corbusier in Ronchamp.However, unlike the white walls of the church, the epidermis of this concrete room was covered with colorful aluminum sheets, which seemed to crept the walls as a sort of infection, producing colored spots.

Photos courtesy of The Tribune

It was a sublime moment that seemed not to be shared by the soldier who was accompanying me, who insisted that photographs were strictly prohibited.I tried to imbue every detail of that moment in my memory,knowing that this experience will probably not be repeated.I tried to breathe the most of this beautiful, grand, dramatic space.But suddenly, with an unfriendly gesture, the soldier let me know that the visit was over.

MY ARCHITECTURAL MOLESKINE

MY ARCHITECTURAL MOLESKINE

Notes on the fly throughout an exciting journey, a logboof of emotions and senses while walking between architectural spaces bathed in light, surrounded by landscape, or being part of it.

Just like in a moleskine - that notebook where travelers compiled writings and drawings of their visits- this blog offers you, dear reader, my own collection based on my personal experience about interesting sites visited in recent years.

Welcome to My Architectural Moleskine

"What I hear, I forget; what I read, I remember; what I do, I learn; what I teach, I know."

Old Chinese proverb.

About me

Architect and urban designer, professor in universities in Peru and Russia. Post PhD. researcher on urban design and landscape in Japan. Earned his PhD in Urban Environmental Planning at Kyoto University, Japan and Master degrees in Sustainability in Argentina and Environmental Management in Peru.

The texts, graphics and photos, unless otherwise stated, belong to the author of this blog.They may be used for personal and academic purposes, as long as the respective authors and source are acknowledged.Its use is not allowed for commercial purposes.